San Bernardino County sheriff adding 15 new deputies

Darrell Lewis hears sheriff’s helicopters circling his Guthrie Street neighborhood in an unincorporated pocket near San Bernardino more often these days.

And a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy he talked to a couple weeks ago mentioned that deputies are under more strain with rising crime.

“It seems like things have escalated in the wrong direction,” he said.

For Lewis, 72, and other residents in unincorporated communities patrolled by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, a change is coming that should improve service by law enforcement and reduce crime. By June, Sheriff John McMahon plans to add 15 new deputies to stations in unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County.

It was a promise McMahon made about a year ago when he was appointed to his position, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

“It was his desire to do this from the onset,” Miller said.

It’s something officials say will improve response times. And that will make a difference, particularly for residents who live in areas at the far end of the sheriff’s jurisdiction, such as Mount Baldy, which is patrolled by the Fontana station 26 miles away.

“The ability to put additional staff in those areas when you have such a great distance in that jurisdiction is very important,” she said.

Having extra deputies on the street will not only bring response times down but should also deter crimes in the first place because would-be criminals will think twice about committing crimes if law enforcement is nearby.

The sheriff’s Victor Valley station in Adelanto stands to benefit the most from the move, receiving eight of the 15 new deputies through June.

The station covers a vast 1,403 square miles that include mountain and desert communities such as Adelanto, Helendale, Oro Grande and Wrightwood. Deputies serve a population of 50,000.

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Sheriff’s Capt. Phil Brown, who heads the station, said the Victor Valley station wasn’t shorthanded before, but the new faces will help improve service.

“We will make every effort to reduce our response times to priority calls for service,” Brown said. “We will make every effort to reduce the workload for our deputies.”

The station provides three deputies per shift to serve Adelanto, two in the Phelan substation, one in Lucerne Valley and one each on either side of the 15 Freeway. Another two deputies patrol Spring Valley Lake and Helendale 40 hours a week, Brown said.

In January, Victor Valley received four deputies and the Morongo Basin received one.

The Fontana and Central stations will each receive three deputies in April. That will bring the number of deputies in Fontana to 30 and 45 at Central.